


Temporary Blindness

by grrriliketigers



Series: The Temporary Series [1]
Category: The Closer
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-15
Updated: 2013-04-15
Packaged: 2017-12-08 15:02:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/762727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grrriliketigers/pseuds/grrriliketigers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While splashing some water on her face at the court house someone takes Captain Raydor’s glasses, leaving her blind and somewhat helpless. Walking towards the annoyingly familiar southern drawl she has to degrade herself by asking Brenda for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Captain Sharon Raydor was standing in the bathroom of the LAPD courthouse. She was preparing to take the stand at a Grand Jury hearing to put away an entire ring of dirty cops. It was always the worst part of her job, when she actually found cops guilty. Despite what anyone may have thought, Sharon wanted to believe in the goodness of the world and the goodness of every person. 

Maybe the police force was the wrong place for such an idealistic attitude or maybe the world just had a shortage of faith. 

Sharon took her glasses off and set them on the ceramic basin. She let the cool water run through her fingers before she bent towards it and splashed it on her face. 

She closed her eyes and mentally went through her testimony again as the din of the courthouse was let in when someone walked into the bathroom. She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the sounds as two girls walked behind her chattering enthusiastically. 

Sharon kept her eyes closed as another woman used the sink next to her and then left, letting in the noise again. Sharon sighed and opened her eyes. 

Her vision was blurred as she looked at her washed out reflection in the mirror. The water in her eyes played a very small role in her current inability to see considering she’d been wearing glasses since she was five and her vision certainly hadn’t gotten any _better_. 

She grabbed a paper towel and dabbed at the water on her face. Finally she reached for her glasses and her heart wrenched when she came up empty. She took a deep breath willed herself not to panic and looked down at the sink. 

The sink was beautiful polished marble but the natural striations and swirls made it difficult for Sharon to tell if there were any objects set upon it. She felt around for the glasses, succeeding only in getting her hands wet. She checked both sinks and came up empty.

Clutching the sink she bent down to feel around the floor. “Excuse me? Is there anyone in here?” She called, her heart racing. “I need help, is anyone here?” 

She was met with silence and a whimper welled up in her throat. She reached out for the door, arms outstretched lest she run into anything. Her fingers gripped the door and pulled it open and stepped out, her fingernails digging into the doorframe, not willing to let go of the one landmark she could recognize. 

Before she could start asking random strangers for help she heard a familiar southern drawl walking by. “I’m just leaving the court house now… yes, Sargeant… okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.” 

“Chief Johnson?” Sharon called out. “Chief Johnson!”

The voice sent a shiver down her spine. Brenda had been going through the week from hell and she just wanted to slip into the bathtub and crawl into a bottle of wine. She needed Sharon Raydor like she needed a hole in the head. 

“Captain, I’m just on my… way out…” Brenda narrowed her eyes at the woman standing in front of her. “Are you alright?” 

“Chief, I need help. I’ve lost my glasses.” 

“Do I _look_ like a seeing eye dog, Captain?” Brenda snapped. 

“Chief, if I could see anything I would be perfectly happy to tell you what you looked like.” Sharon lowered her voice and whispered, “ _please_.” 

Brenda wanted – desperately – to say no, shake her off and walk out of the court house as she had been planning but the look of sheer dread and panic on the brunette’s face made Brenda sigh. “Exactly how detrimental is it not having your glasses?” Brenda waved a hand in front of Sharon. 

Sharon’s eyes darted with uncertainty, following the movement. 

Brenda sighed again, “oh alright, Captain. How can I help?”

Sharon looked visibly relieved, “I was in the bathroom, I set them down on the sink to wash my face and then they were just gone. I felt around and I couldn’t feel them…” She said as she drew Brenda into the bathroom. “Do you see them anywhere?”

Brenda crouched down and looked under the sinks and found nothing except a trampled receipt, a punctured tube of lip gloss dripping onto the floor and a mountainous pile of hair in the corner. She grimaced and stood up. “They’re not under there and you should count yourself lucky for that.” 

Sharon made a noise in her throat that gave away the face that she might cry. “Maybe someone turned them in to lost and found?” 

“I was standing right there!” Sharon insisted, “how would anyone think that they were lost? They were right next to me. Wouldn’t they have at least asked if they were mine?” 

“I don’t know, Captain.” Brenda sighed, “who knows what madness lurks in the hearts of men?” 

Sharon bit her lip and turned away, no longer able to keep herself from crying. She was mortified to be crying in front of Chief Johnson but being stranded without her glasses or anyone to help her was her worst fear. 

After a few moments, it became clear to Brenda that Sharon was crying. “Oh, Captain, don’t cry, it’s going to be fine.” Brenda walked over to the handtowels and something in the trash caught her eye. “Captain, what do your glasses look like?”

“They’re black with rounded rectangular frames, they have silver colored D&G printed on the side.” She sniffled, pulling herself together. 

“Well, I have good news and bad news…” Brenda said slowly as she pulled the remains of the glasses from the trash. 

Sharon reached out to grab them from Brenda and recoiled upon being pricked by what remained of the lenses. “Oh my god,” she took the pieces in her hands, “they’re broken into… what? _Five_ pieces?”

“Six…” Brenda bit her lip. 

“These don’t feel accidental. These feel like intentional breaks… I don’t understand…” Sharon furrowed her brow, feeling the edges of the plastic. 

“I don’t either…” Brenda shook her head, starting to feel a familiar sense of intrigue. “Captain, stop touching the pieces. You’re cutting your fingers.” 

Brenda took the glasses from her and wrapped them in a towel and put them in her purse and took Sharon by the hand over to the sink. She turned on the hot water and rinsed Sharon’s cut fingers. 

“Thank you…” Sharon mumbled, embarrassed. 

“What are you here for today?”

“I’m testifying at the grand jury hearing for the Jason Faulkner case. ADA Lindon is handling the people’s case.” 

“Okay, we’ll find her and you can testify and then…” Brenda said with a sigh, “then we’ll get you to the optometrist to get a new pair of glasses.” 

“Thank you, Chief, I don’t know how to repay you for this.” 

“Yes, well…” Brenda snorted, “I’m sure you’ll think of something.” 

Once in the hallway Brenda led Sharon down the hall to the appropriate court room. “Oh, there she is.” ADA Lindon smiled as they approached. 

“Alright, Captain, I’m going to wait for you out here-” Brenda started. 

Sharon clutched Brenda’s arm. “Your perfume… I’ve smelled it… you were in the bathroom… did you take my glasses?” 

“What are you saying?” Brenda asked, leaning closer to Sharon. 

“I know you were in there.” Sharon insisted. “Your perfume and your shampoo and your make-up, I recognize the combination. Why did you take my glasses?” 

Lindon pulled out a gun and pressed it into Sharon’s stomach, “you just can’t leave well enough alone, can you?”

“Oh my god,” Brenda gasped. 

Lindon grabbed both women by the arms and yanked them into the court room. She pointed her gun toward the ceiling and shot out one of the lights; everyone in the hallway started to scramble for the exits. 

Lindon entered the room and barricaded the door. The cops on trial pulled their weapons and the balif held his hands up. “Put it on the floor!” Faulkner yelled and the balif set the gun down and Faulkner grabbed it up. 

Lindon turned back to Brenda and Sharon. Sharon didn’t need Brenda to narrate to know what had just happened. Lindon leaned forward and smacked Sharon across the face with her pistol. “You just couldn’t leave well enough alone.” 

Brenda clutched Sharon protectively. “Y’all can’t get out of this.” Brenda snarled, “you won’t get out of th building let alone the city.” 

“Lindon, how did you get roped into this?” Sharon demanded with indignation. 

“You don’t even get it. You only cracked the surface, you have no idea how deep this goes.” Lindon snapped, “we have people in every branch you could think of.” 

“Do you have the mayor and the national guard?” Brenda put her hand on her hip in defiance. 

“Abigail, what the fuck?” Faulkner sneered, approaching. “You’re explaining the whole thing?”

“I want her to know that she failed. I want her to tell everybody in the LAPD that they were bested by the so-called bad guys.” Lindon looked at Brenda and Sharon disdainfully. “We’ve planted charges all over the court house and we have someone on the outside with the detonator if anyone tries to stop us.”

“The mayor will never okay killing everyone in the courthouse to catch us.” Faulkner added, clearly proud of his plan. 

“You really think you thought of everything, hm? I with I was as stupid as you so I could feel good about myself all the time. You have a high school education and you think you’re outsmarting all of us? _Please!_ ” Sharon rolled her eyes. 

Faulkner raised his hand backhanded her, his knuckles colliding forcefully with her cheekbone. “Would you stop hitting her?” Brenda growled, “the woman’s practically blind!” 

“Chief Johnson, I don’t need you to fight my battles.” Sharon hissed. 

“No, you just need me to be your seeing eye dog.” Brenda snapped. “Would you shut up?” 

“That’s mighty good advice, Captain Raydor.” Faulkner whispered menacingly. 

“You’re a coward, Faulkner. I have some advice for you: a real man takes the consequences of his actions, he doesn’t endanger lives of hundreds of people. You think you’re patriots but you’re just lazy, worthless opportunists and cowards.” 

“Sharon, _shut-up_!” Brenda shouted. 

Faulkner, Lindon and Sharon all turned to Brenda in surprise. Faulkner poked Brenda in the side with his weapon. “Give me your purses.” 

They both gritted their teeth and handed over the bags. Faulkner reached in and took their weapons and pulled out Brenda’s handcuffs. He took Brenda’s wrist and secured it, then he took Sharon by the arm and yanked her closer. 

“No, no! What are you doing?” Brenda asked in a panic.

“Since you two seem to be so attached I figured I’d make it official.” Faulkner laughed. 

Brenda tugged on the cuffs, “you take these off right now!”

“Cool your jets, little lady.” Faulkner smirked. “You’re mighty feisty for such a tiny little woman. I bet you make a tasty little snack, I could swallow you whole.” 

Sharon lashed out and struck Faulkner, “you watch yourself around a superior officer.” She snarled. 

Faulkner’s nostrils flared with anger at her retaliation. He grabbed them by the cuffs and dragged them to the storage closet at the back of the courtroom and threw them in. 

They stumbled into cleaning supplies and fell backwards against a shelf. He slammed the door shut and pulled a bench in front of it. The two women scrambled to their feet but weren’t quick enough to stop him. Brenda and Sharon banged their fists on the door.

They heard his muffled voice retreating and they started yelling louder. A gunshot went off on the other side of the door and they both froze. Not even their breathing made a sound as they strained to listen. 

Brenda sighed, “nicely done, Captain.”


	2. Chapter 2

There were more shots but they were a lot farther away than the first one. Sharon always felt like she could hear more sharply when she was essentially blind. The rage that shot through her at the sound of the gunfire spurred her into action.

“Help me get this door open.” Sharon insisted, throwing her weight into the door. 

“Don’t hurt yourself, I’m not carrying you.” Brenda yanked Sharon back by the cuffs. Sharon was about to retaliate when they heard the sound of the bench being pushed out of the way. Brenda and Sharon instinctively clutched each other’s hands. 

The door opened and one of the jurors held out a hand to help them out. “You’re cops?” 

“We are.” Sharon nodded. “What happened?”

“He shot the balif.” Someone said sorrowfully from behind the juror. “Somebody says all the doors are locked and the windows won’t open.” 

“The building’s on lock down.” Brenda said as an aside to Sharon. 

“The good news is that they probably won’t detonate the building. We’re their insutance, they need us all alive to get safe transport.” Sharon stepped up and started speaking, “we know at least a handful of the cops involved in this. Also, their acts have been mostly extortion and blackmail not acts of terrorism. They consider themselves patriots and capitalists.” 

“But they obviously have a disdain for the law.” The juror protested. 

“No, no, she’s right. It’s not their style.” Brenda said. 

“We should try and get a look at the explosives first.” Sharon turned in the direction of the judge – or at least she hoped it was the judge and not just a woman in a loose fitting black dress—“Judge McDonnell, can you get to the PA system and ask any engineers, electricians, construction workers, etc. to meet us in the basement. Ask that everyone else move to the first floor – taking the stairs and not the elevator—there’s strength in numbers and we’re likely to find out everyone’s skills a lot faster if we’re all together. And ask everyone to remain calm because we will be getting out of this alive.” 

Judge McDonnell nodded and walked toward the door. Brenda stopped her, “and also ask if anyone has a pair of glasses with a strong prescription to lend to Captain Raydor.”

The judge looked at Brenda then at Sharon and nodded. 

Another one of the jurors stepped up, “I’m an architecture student and I can probably help find where the explosions will be placed…”

He sounded young, Sharon smiled a little in the direction of his voice. “Thank you, that’ll be very helpful.” 

“We’ll meet y’all down there,” Brenda said, “we’re going to see if we can find supplies or anything else even remotely helpful.” 

Brenda took Sharon by the hand and led her, figuring she was less likely to fall and drag them both to the ground if Brenda held onto her. 

“You really piss off a lot of people, don’t you, Captain?” Brenda asked, there was a playful tone in her voice, she was trying to put them both at ease. 

Sharon snorted a laugh but then said softly, “I’m sorry that you got dragged into this.”

“Well, I don’t know who else is in the building,” Brenda started, “but better two of us who know what we’re doing than one.” 

She said it but both Brenda and Sharon were scared. Of course they’d both had training in crisis maneuvers but that was at the Academy and Brenda was in her mid-forties and Sharon wouldn’t see fifty again. 

Sharon was allowing herself to be led because it wouldn’t have helped anyone if she’d protested. Sharon couldn’t see to know for sure but everything sounded awfully calm. The hallways were empty and all the courtroom doors were closed. They weren’t locked, she knew, but the people inside were probably frozen in terror. 

“They probably had someone in every room…” Sharon sighed. “To take the balifs guns. Why’d he shoot the balif? He had his gun… it doesn’t make sense.” 

“Maybe our balif was in on it. Maybe the shots fired were eliminating excess baggage. Lindon said that we had no idea how numerous they were. Fewer people to transport out of the country.” 

“There’s at least one person left behind… someone has to be behind to detonate the explosives.”

“Unless there are no explosives.” Brenda pointed out. 

Sharon shrugged, “I think we should assume they have someone… or that it’s on a timer, in which case we’re definitelt in trouble. We should find the explosives first. Where are we going?” 

“The supply closet.” Brenda tried to open the door. 

“It’s locked, isn’t it?” 

The judge’s voice came over the loudspeaker, she introduced herself and then relayed Sharon’s instructions. Then there was silence for a while before the sound of people moving and speaking in the surrounding rooms and the stairwell started to flood the air. 

“I bet the balif has a key.” Brenda sighed. The door to the courtroom next to them opened and Brenda waved a hand to catch someone’s eye, “could you get your balif for us?” 

The man disappeared into the room and reappeared with the balif. The man followed the growing group to the basement and the balif walked over to them. “How can I help you ladies?” 

“I’m Deputy Chief Johnson, this is Captain Raydor. Can you open this door for us?” 

He looked at them skeptically but then opened the door. It swung open and Brenda assessed the contents. “What’s the procedure for a lock down?” Sharon asked. 

“All the windows and the doors shut and lock. No one can get in, no one can get out. There are only three people who know the lock down code to turn it on _or_ off.” 

“So, whoever called lock down is in here with us?” Sharon repeated, “who are the three who have the code?” 

The balif shrugged, “it changes all the time. We don’t know who they are so they can’t be targets.” 

“Is there any way to set lock down and then get out of the building?” 

“No, ma’am.” The balif shook his head. 

“Alright…” Sharon rubbed her eyes. Not being able to see was really getting old. “What about cell phones?” Even as she asked it she knew it wasn’t likely considering the old building had a reputation for blocking any and every signal.

The balif shook his head, “cell phone dead zone. The landline is digital and when lock down is in effect it can only call out to the police station.” 

“That could be worse.” Sharon said, thinking, “will you find a land line and call out to make sure LAPD is apprised of the situation?” 

He nodded and walked off. 

Brenda pulled out a took kit from the bottom. “Slim pickings in there.” 

“Captain!” Judge McDonnell called as she started down the hallway, “try these on.” She held out a pair of large coke bottle framed men’s glasses with thick black frames. 

Sharon put them on and they immediately dwarfed her face. She looked like she belonged in a 1980s technological spy movie wherein a geek was recruited by the CIA to thwart a devious plot. Brenda couldn’t help but smile. “How are those for you?”

“Better, definitely better. I can see where I’m going now, thank you, Judge. You can tell the man who leant them that I’ll take good care of them.” 

“He said that if you can get us out alive you can keep them.” 

Sharon smiled, “well, now I _have_ to get us out alive, if only to claim these spectacles as my own. Tell him thank you for me.” Brenda was watching Sharon with interest. Sharon noticed this when she turned back to her after the judge retreated again. “What?”

“LAPD confidently allows you to carry a gun?”


	3. Chapter 3

Once downstairs Sharon pulled Brenda with her to step into the middle of the group of men and women whose assistance she’d asked for. “Okay, listen up. My name is Captain Sharon Raydor and I work for the LAPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau. One of the men responsible for this has revealed that there are explosives in the building. We need construction workers, architects and engineers to identify the places most likely to have been targeted, once found demolitions experts and electricians should try to identify the type and whether it can disarmed or deactivated. No matter what, I would like one member of your group to go to the first floor and inform Judge McDonnell as soon as any information comes to light.” Sharon order, taking to command like a duck takes to water. “Understood?”

The people gathered in front of her answered wearily. 

“ _Understood_?” She repeated more firmly. This time the response was more enthusiastically. 

Brenda held up the tool box, “we found these tools, feel free to use anything you can find. We’ll be using the PA system for communication so listen for any transmissions. God speed, gentlemen.” 

Sharon led Brenda up the stairs, pushing into the first floor. The things in front of her still blurred at the edges and reading wouldn’t be entirely possible but she could now confidently avoid obstacles and, for the most part, recognize faces. 

Sharon entered the room, Brenda in tow, where the majority of people were gathered. “Who here is a court house employee?” Sharon asked. She looked around the room at the raised hands, “I need someone to get into the computer and get a list of all court house employees, _everyone_ who works in this building, use the PA system to make sure that each and every one of them is accounted for.” 

The bailiff waved a hand and caught her eye, “Captain, I have LAPD on the phone, they want to speak with you.” 

Sharon and Brenda approached the phone and Sharon accepted the receiver. “This is Captain Raydor.” She listened, “yes, Deputy Chief Johnson is here with me… yes, sir.” She held the phone out to Brenda. 

Brenda put the phone to her ear and listened before saying, “no, sir. I have the utmost confidence in Captain Raydor and I have relinquished my command to her… yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” She held it back out to Sharon. 

Sharon listened to the other line again, “I have a group in the basement looking for explosives… I know, sir, I’m having someone take roll of all courthouse employees… I know, sir… yes, thank you, sir.” Sharon said and paused, “Chief Johnson and I are going to continue to investigate. What is LAPD doing in response? …I see, yes, thank you. Please keep Judge McDonnell apprised. Thank you.”

In the stairwell again Brenda and Sharon pointed upwards toward the third floor where the lockdown sequence was started. 

“Thank you, Chief Johnson.” Sharon said as they approached the halfway point. 

“For what?” Brenda asked innocently. 

“For your confidence. It really means a lot to me.” 

Brenda shrugged, “you seem very cool under pressure. Everything you’ve done so far sounds like all the right things to do.”

“Your husband must be very worried about you.” Sharon said sympathetically. 

Brenda shook her head, “no.”

“No?” Sharon echoed.

“We separated a month ago, I’m just waiting on the papers.” 

“I’m sorry, that’s a difficult thing to go through.” Sharon gave Brenda’s hand a small squeeze. They arrived at the third floor only to see that the stairs continued up. “Where does that go?”

“Must be roof access, let’s look.” 

They climbed the rest of the stairs and found a door there ajar. Venturing into the mysterious top floor themselves in a low ceilinged room directly under the dome. Sharon’s phone beeped in her blazer pocket. She pulled it out and grinned, “I have a signal.” 

“Who are you going to call?” Brenda craned her neck to look over Sharon’s shoulder at the iPhone. 

“I’m going to call Sue in my office.” She put the phone to her ear as it rang. “Sue, I need you to cross reference Jason Faulkner and the other members of his conspiracy with courthouse employees. Be sure to include ADA Lindon as one of the conspirators… thank you, Sue… e-mail it to my phone when you’re done.” 

The PA system wasn’t wire for the very top floor because the sound was muffled in the distance. As the descended the stairs they heard Judge McDonnell calling for any missing courthouse employees who had signed in but hadn’t made it down to the first floor. 

“Don’t you need the signal?” Brenda protested. 

“Unlike a phone call an e-mail can come through as soon as you reenter the signal area. We should go and see if there’s anything we can do about lifting the lock down.” 

“Captain Raydor,” the judge called over the PA, “there are four courthouse employees that checked in today but aren’t here.” 

Brenda and Sharon pushed open the door to the third floor and they started in opposite directions. Brenda’s nostrils flared, “do not do that.” 

“I think we should go to the _left_ because the majority of the telephone poles are on the north side.” Sharon explained rationally. 

“Fine.” Brenda acquiesced, gesturing to the left, “lead on, fearless leader.”

Sharon snorted at the obvious jab but continued down the hall, feeling the walls and trying to reason out the best room to find the control center. 

“Captain Raydor, amendment to my earlier transmission, there are only three courthouse employees unaccounted for.” 

Brenda leaned close to Sharon. Sharon held her breath as she felt Brenda’s on her neck, “could it be a coincidence that three people have the lock down code and three people are missing?” 

“I don’t believe in coincidences, Chief.” 

“Nor do I, Captain.” Brenda confirmed as they continued along the wall, but moving slower more deliberately. 

Neither one of them wanted to say it but they were both thinking that their odds would be world’s better if they were in possession of a weapon. They were disadvantaged enough by their attachment and Sharon’s myopia. 

Sharon silently scolded herself for brazenly entering the attic room without ensuring it was clear. They were both lucky to be alive. Hopefully their luck would hold. 

“Captain Raydor, your presence is requested in the basement. They’ve located the bomb.”


	4. Chapter 4

Sharon and Brenda stood amid the electricians, architects, demolitions experts and construction workers as they gaped at the ticking bomb. It had been secured behind mounds of storage boxes. It had been attached to the main support beam and hidden. 

“Now we have a problem.” Sharon said with a humorless snort. “There’s no one on the outside, he’s just going to blow us up in twenty minutes.” 

“Nineteen minutes twenty two seconds.” Brenda amended. 

Sharon took a deep breath. “Does anyone know how to dismantle a bomb? Has anyone had any relevant experience?” 

She received no response from the group. “Chief, may I borrow our shared arm?” She asked respectfully. Brenda shuffled closer and watched with morbid curiosity as Sharon leaned in very close to the digital read out and used the tip of her fingernail to gently move a wire out of the way.

The crowd was rapt. She took a deep breath and said, “the clock definitely isn’t just for show, it’s connected to the wire that’s connected to the C4.” She said, “my guess would be there are charges near by that will detonate when they feel the impact of this one.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Said the architecture student that she’d spoken to earlier, “we found the little charges on other support beams.” 

“We have to get in touch with LAPD, we need a bomb squad down here ASAP.” Sharon announced, already directing Brenda back toward the stairs to the first floor. 

“You can’t do it?” Cried one of the electricians, pushing through the crowd and approaching Sharon. “You can’t disable it? You sounded like you knew what you were talking about.”

“It’s not a simple bomb, it’s a very complex bomb. It’s made to be intentionally labyrinthine.” Sharon stated firmly, trying to get away from him and up the stairs, “even if I could see better I don’t have the training.” 

“How fast could someone from the LAPD get here?” He asked, grabbing at the cuffs.

“Sir, we don’t have time for this.” Brenda exclaimed, a feeling shared equally by Sharon. 

“Come on!” He shouted desperately. “Give me a fucking answer! How long?”

“I have no idea. And add to that the length of time it has taken to have this conversation.” Sharon snaarled fiercely. “The building is on lock down. This courthouse was designed to be impenatrable. Extrapolate from there.” 

Once the reached the top step he was on them again. 

This time it was Brenda’s turn to snap at him, “sir, you need to remain calm. The best thing you can do is to just let us handle this.” 

“What if the building wasn’t on lockdown? Could the LAPD disarm the bomb?”

Sharon wanted to smack the man upside the head and tell him that the odds of them being reached in time were slim to none and he should start atoning for his sins but thought better of it, not wanting to incite a panic. “Yes. The LAPD has a very knowledgable bomb squad.” Sharon said flatly as she and Brenda strode with purpose toward the front room and the phone.

“I can open it! I can lift the lock down!” He called after them.

They turned on their heels, nearly knocking each other over as the cuffs impeded their ease of movement. “What did you say?” Brenda demanded. 

“I can do it. I can open it.” He gushed, “you gotta offer me a deal though. You gotta tell me I won’t be arrested.” 

“I can’t promise you that.” Sharon scoffed. Brenda looked over at her, wondering for all the world why she didn’t _lie_. “However, the DA will be happy to plead you out to give up the rest of Faulkner’s operation and you can be given a new identity by the witness protection.” 

“Deal, it’s a deal. Follow me.” He dashed toward the stairs. 

Brenda and Sharon’s pulses quickened as they followed him up and up to the third floor. He burst into the control room and went over to the panel and started pushing buttons. The panel beeped sharply, causing them all to jump.

“Stop stalling!” Sharon snapped. 

“I’m… I’m not stalling… it’s… I don’t know, it worked earlier.” He continued keying in the sequence until the beeping stopped and the lights shut off. 

They all held their breath. Finally the lights came back on and the lockdown lifted with a creak. “So long and good luck.” The electrician snickered, he hauled back and hit Brenda in the face. 

She hissed in pain as she sunk to the floor. “Chief!” Sharon cried. Brenda looked up, signifying there would be no lasting damage. Sharon grabbed the purse from Brenda’s hand and swung it as hard as she could. It collided with the back of the electricians head and he stumbled and fell to the ground. 

“I always knew your purse could be used as a weapon…” Sharon smirked. She started pulling the strap off of her own. “Get him on his back and we’ll tie him up with this.” 

“I’ll need both hands,” Brenda admitted, Sharon leaned in with her to pull the man onto his back. He wasn’t unconscious and he squirmed, despite the pain and likely concussion. It took both of them to wrestle him onto his chest. 

“Sit on him while I secure his hands.” Sharon instructed. 

Brenda was tempted to decline but figured it could hardly get any worse. She settled herself onto the electricians back. He squirmed some more but gave up after not being able to lift her with ease. Sharon had already pulled his hands together and began what looked like a very impressive knot. 

“That ought to hold him until we can someone up here to take him.” Sharon pushed the hair back from her face and for a brief moment Brenda was struck by how beautiful she was and how wonderful it seemed that they would all live through this. 

Sharon touched Brenda’s cheek gingerly. “Does it hurt?”

The answer was _yes_ , it hurt like a motherfucker – Brenda was much too much of a lady to use that particular expression and much too modest to admit anything anyway. She shook her head, “I’ll forget about it in no time.” 

This time Brenda could see the bruises forming on Sharon’s face from the three blows she’d sustained earlier. Brenda reached out to touch her jaw and Sharon recoiled. “I’m sorry.” Brenda said softly. 

“I need to reach the landline, to call LAPD to tell them about our friend.” Sharon reached over to the desk and yanked the phone down off of it. 

**

Brenda and Sharon sat in the parking lot of the courthouse. The bomb squad had managed to disarm the bomb and the electrician had been taken into custody. In fact, most of the commotion had ended, Chief Delk promised to hold a press conference the following day which had served to quell the reporters’ desire for the story. 

Will Pope stood behind them. All three had been silent for well over half an hour. The paramedics had offered to cut them out of the cuffs but Will had insisted they wait around for the locksmith, lest he have to purchase a new pair of cuffs. 

It wasn’t that they minded each other’s company that much. In fact, Brenda was now comforted by the older woman’s proximity, she was cool in a crisis and she knew what she was doing, she might go so far as to say she’d make a perfect complement to Brenda. If only the woman wasn’t so focused on being a complete cow about the rule book and insisting that Brenda share. _No_ , she never asked Brenda to _share_ she asked her to _relinquish_. If only she were part of a different division, she might even like her. 

“I’m sure it won’t be long now.” Will cut into Brenda’s thoughts. 

Sharon looked up and sneered, the comically large glasses slipping down her nose. She lifted their joined hands to push them back up, the cuffs clinking. Will looked to Brenda to see if his words had been any better received by her but Brenda refused to meet his eye. 

She could forgive quite a few inconveniences caused by his penny pinching but she felt that it was disrespectful – mostly to Sharon – to disadvantage the people that saved the courthouse and hundreds of civilians lives’.

Brenda resolved not to talk to Will for at least a week. 

“There he is.” Will waved the locksmith over. 

“Sorry I’m late, I had a devil of a time getting through the police line.” He said, pulling up to sit in front of Brenda and Sharon. “They didn’t believe that you wouldn’t just cut the cuffs off. Thought I was trying to sneak in.” 

Will cleared his throat. “Will it take long?”

“No,” he shook his head, “shouldn’t take long at all.” He extracted small tools from a pouch and held the the cuff that was attached to Brenda close to his face and jiggled the mechanisms until it gave and opened. He repeated the process with Sharon’s.

Sharon rubbed her wrist, the skin was raw but she figured it went well with her swollen face. Brenda’s looked painful and she wondered if her own face looked worse. 

“I don’t know if I’m happy or nervous that it was so easy for you to open.” Brenda snorted a small laugh. 

“What Chief Johnson means is _thank you_.” Sharon rolled her eyes inwardly. 

“Don’t speak for me.” Brenda chided. 

“I wouldn’t presume to, Chief.” Sharon pursed her lips. 

Will cleared his throat again. This time they looked at him – if only to convey their contempt for him. “You two should both take the day off tomorrow.” There was silence. “Right, well…” 

They turned and started walking toward the parking lot. Sharon knew she shouldn’t drive until she got a new pair of glasses with the right prescription, she was thinking about calling a cab when Brenda said, “buy you a drink, Captain?”


End file.
